


Promises

by iambuckyrogers



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 08:20:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17525165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iambuckyrogers/pseuds/iambuckyrogers
Summary: You made a promise to yourself to not succumb to your boss’s charm. How will you cope when you realise you’re falling for him?





	Promises

**Author's Note:**

> This was for @petersshirts 1k challenge on Tumblr. I was struggling a bit with a good storyline for this prompt but thanks to a shitty date I went on recently and my terminally unrequited crush I came up with this beauty. Kudos and comments are appreciated xx

When you took the job as Tony Stark’s assistant you made a promise to yourself, that you wouldn’t fall for the playboy’s charm. You had done quite well in the first few months, keeping all correspondence strictly professional, never acknowledging his occasional flirtatious remarks or engaging in functions that weren’t work-related. It had all gone downhill quickly when one morning Friday sent you an urgent message calling you to Tony’s workshop. She hadn’t elaborated on what the problem was, so you went in expecting the absolute worst. Due to Tony’s notorious disdain towards personal safety, you expected him to have been injured by some sort of explosion or an invention gone wrong. What you were met with certainly wasn’t what you thought you’d see. Instead, you found Tony curled up in the foetal position at the foot of his workbench. His face was buried into his knees as he rocked himself back and forth, body shaking uncontrollably. You approached him cautiously, an outstretched hand brushing him gently on the shoulder as you settled yourself on the floor next to him.  
“Tony, it’s Y/N,” you whispered, “are you ok?” You didn’t really expect a response, it was more to just let him know that you were there for him. He slowly uncurled himself and looked at you with red-rimmed eyes, tear tracks glistening on his cheeks. His breathing was shallow and rapid, sweat beaded along his forehead. You had never seen him look so vulnerable and it broke your heart. You reached out and took one of his hands in yours, resting your fingers on his pulse point you felt the manic beating of his heart.  
“Tony, I’m going to need you to take some deep breaths with me, okay?” you took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, “Just like that Tony. Do the next one with me,” You took another breath, this time Tony followed your lead. He took in a shaky breath, held it for a few seconds before letting it out again.  
“Okay just a couple more,” you reassured him. He closed his eyes and continued to breathe deeply, each breath coming easier than the last. Gradually, his heart rate returned to normal, you squeezed his hand gently before pulling away.  
“How do you feel now, Tone?” you asked. He took another deep breath and opened his eyes but looked anywhere but at you.  
“Better thanks,” he replied shortly, pulling himself to his feet and quickly busying himself with the mess of tools that littered his workbench.  
“Do you know what triggered your anxiety?” Tony’s shoulders tensed. He turned from his bench to face you, his face unreadable.  
“No, I’m fine,” he murmured, more as a question than a statement, “you can go now.” He dismissed you with a wave of his hand and turned back to focus on his work. Not wanting to upset him any further you hurried out of his workshop and went back to your own work.

Since that day, your mission to keep your feelings towards your boss strictly professional got infinitely harder. Seeing a different side of Tony changed the way you saw him. You caught a glimpse of the softer, more sensitive side to the usual extravagant, cocky man that you were so used to dealing with and you wanted to get to know him more. Each interaction with him left your heart beating just a little faster, your hands a bit clammy and heart not quite filled. The only issue was, since that day Tony seemed to be going out of his way to avoid you. He spent as much time as he could locked away in his workshop and when he did emerge he kept any dealings with you very short and succinct. You were starting to go mad, torn between wanting Tony’s attention and wanting to punch him in his stupid face. Your best friend, Y/F/N, wasn’t oblivious to your struggles.  
“Come on Y/N, just give it a try,” Y/F/N implored waving the phone in front of your face.  
“Fine,” you groaned snatching the phone out of their hand. They had been trying for weeks to get you to sign up for tinder and you’d reached your wits end, giving in if only to shut them up for five minutes. You went about setting up your profile, adding a few decent pictures of yourself but you were stumped for what to write in the bio.  
“Just write whatever you feel is right,” your friend suggested. So you did just that, settling for one of the cringiest pick up lines you could find on the internet.  
“Hey how does this sound? Are you french? Because Eiffel for you,” you choke out through giggles. Your friend shakes their head and laughs softly.  
“Man, that’s so bad.”  
“I know, that’s the point.” You had no intention of actually pursuing anyone on tinder so hopefully, the terrible pun would turn any potential suitors off.  
“Now start swiping!” your friend snatched the phone out of your hand and swiped right on everyone they came across.  
“Woah no don’t do that!” you shouted wrestling them for the phone.  
“A match!” they cheered triumphantly causing you to stop your assault.  
“Really?!”  
“Yep and look at this, they’ve already messaged!” your friend held the phone out to you and sure enough on the screen was a message from a guy named Martin.  
Martin: Do you like raisins?  
“What the hell?” your fingers hovered over the keyboard thinking of how you could reply to such an odd message. Eventually, you typed your response.  
Y/N: Not overly fond but i do enjoy wine  
Within seconds Martin replied.  
Martin: Well how would you feel about a date?  
“Wow this guy is smooth,” you laughed to your friend.  
“See it’s not that bad,” they chided to which you stuck out your tongue.

You kept talking to Martin. He was a surprisingly decent guy, he always messaged to see how your day was, he’d tell you bad jokes if you were feeling down and he never once sent you an unsolicited dick pic! Things were going pretty well for you and Martin but you still couldn’t get Tony truly out of your head. It was hard when you saw him almost every day, each time was like a punch to the gut reminding you of what you couldn’t have. You thought about quitting but the pay was amazing and besides, you were really good at your job and doubted that they would let you go without a fight. After a few weeks of talking to Martin, you finally set a date. You were going to meet him at an Italian restaurant in downtown New York. After finishing up your errands for the day you returned to your quarters in the compound. Another perk of being Tony’s assistant, you never knew when he’d need you, so you were on call 24/7 and got to live at the Avengers compound. You had decided to wear the new cocktail dress that you had gotten for your birthday. It was a little red, off the shoulder number that hugged your figure perfectly and accentuated your best features. You finished off your look with silver hoop earrings, a pearl bracelet and silver heels. You applied your make up and pulled your hair up into a loose bun, giving yourself one last look in the mirror before hurrying out to the awaiting uber. You walk past the common room where you spot Tony nursing a bottle of Jack Daniels and bag of popcorn, watching a David Attenborough documentary about the Great Barrier Reef. You kept your head down and walked quickly, heels clicking obnoxiously on the tiled floor.  
“Hey Y/N where are you going?” he slurred, pausing the tv and leaning over the back of the couch to watch you as you hurried past.  
“On a date, Mr Stark,” you explained stopping in your tracks but not turning around to face him.  
“Oh,” he sighed turning back around and flicking the tv on again. You took a deep breath and continued through the compound out to the driveway where the uber was waiting, ready to take you to Martin.

The driver pulled up outside the restaurant, you thanked him and emerged into the chill of the evening air. You were a few minutes early so you decided to wait inside where it was warmer.  
“Table for one?” the waiter asked once you entered the restaurant.  
“Two actually,” you corrected him, “my date is coming later.” The waiter nodded, picked up 2 menus and gestured for you to follow him. He seated you at a cosy window booth, overlooking a grassy park filled with people enjoying the evening. He poured you a glass of water and silently returned to his post at the door. You checked your phone quickly for the time, it was 6:00 so Martin should be arriving soon.  
Ten minutes passed, then 15 which quickly turned to 20 and there was no sign of Martin. He hadn’t even messaged you to say he was going to be late. Frustrated and annoyed you waved the waiter over and got some more breadsticks and a bottle of red wine. You poured yourself a glass and waited some more. An hour ticked past and still no Martin. You had finished the wine and had eaten enough breadsticks to feed a small army. You were upset and mad all at the same time, a tsunami of emotions wreaking havoc on your brain. You decided that it was time to leave, you paid for your meal and tipped the waiter handsomely for fetching you so many breadsticks. It wasn’t long before your uber arrived and you were en route back to the compound.

With your heels in your hand, you stumbled through the compound towards your room. Everything was quiet and dark, you walked with your arms out, feeling around like you were blindfolded and trying to find the piñata at a birthday party. Your arms connected with something hard just moments before you kicked your toe into it.  
“Fucking shit,” you swore hopping around on your uninjured foot.  
“Y/N?” someone whispered causing you to drop your shoes to the floor with a loud crash. “Friday turn on the lights please.” The lights burst to life, you had to shield your eyes from the sudden intrusion. When your eyes had adjusted you looked around to get your bearings. You had walked into the wall right next to the doorway that you were looking for which lead to your room. The voice you had heard was Tony’s, he was in the same position as you had left him only this time the Jack Daniels bottle was empty and he was surrounded by empty food wrappers.  
“What’s up darlin’, you look like crap,” Tony garbled looking you up and down.  
“Yeah well I feel like crap too,” you sniffed wiping away the tears that threatened to spill from your eyes.  
“Don’t cry sweetheart it can’t be that bad. What’s wrong?”  
“Everything,” you choked out, a fresh wave of sadness hitting you like a brick wall. You walked over and slumped onto the couch, tears streaming down your face.  
“Want to talk about it?” he whispered moving closer to you.  
“Well, that makes a change,” you scoffed moving back so that there was distance between you once again.  
“What do you mean?” he asked, taken aback by your tone.  
“You’re part of the problem. I’m done. I’m done trying so hard only for you to never look in my direction. You’ve been avoiding me for weeks and I know it. Christ, I even went on a stupid tinder date to try and get you off of my mind only for it to bite me in the ass. I’m sick and tired of being so hopelessly in love with you,” you gasped having realised what you just said, “I’m sorry,” you sobbed into your hands, wishing that your tears could wash away all of the pain you felt inside. You felt a gentle hand brush along your shoulder.  
“Hey Y/N, it’s ok,” Tony reassured you, “because I feel the exact same way. I’m an idiot, after you helped me in the lab I freaked out. I’ve lost so many people who’ve cared about me and I couldn’t stand losing you. I thought that the only way to keep you safe was to push you away but clearly that hasn’t helped either you or I. Please forgive me.” You looked into Tony’s eyes, searching for some kind of hint that he was joking, that it was all an elaborate prank but all you found there was the love and admiration that he felt for you.  
“God we’re stupid,” you laughed softly as Tony wiped a few stray tears from your cheeks.  
“What a pair we are,” he laughed tears of his own pooling in his eyes. He brushed a strand of hair behind your ear before gently cupping your face in his calloused hand. His eyes flicked from your eyes to your lips and back up again as he slowly brought your faces closer together. Your eyes fluttered shut when he finally pressed his lips to yours. Time seemed to slow as you kissed, a single moment of passion stretched out to infinity. You wound your hands into Tony’s hair, pulling him in closer. You gasped as he nipped at your bottom lip allowing him to sweep his tongue into your mouth. He tasted of whisky and smelt like home, he was everything you had imagined and more. You pulled back and rested your forehead against his, needing a chance to catch your breath. You had not just broken your promise of not falling for the playboy’s charm, you had completely and utterly destroyed it, like a tree in a wood chopper there was no going back. Not that you would want to anyway.  

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @iambuckyrogers <3 until next time xx


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